Christmas 2007 - Our girl sure knows how to pose for pictures! Hard to believe she was only 16 months old in this one.

"Do I have something on my face?" Another bout with spaghetti!

Bath time!

My little Dodger girl!!!

Alexandra is now a year old!!!! Here are some pictures from the one year photo session.

Happy Easter!!!!!

Go Kings Go!!!!

A family photo in the front yard.

This is her "outside saucer." She likes to go out back and watch the dogs run and retrieve.

Alex and my good friend Guillermo's son Mateo. They are only a few weeks apart.

Alex with Grandma!!!! They have fun times together!

Alex with Grandpa!!!!! She likes it when he comes over!

Tummy time! Alex spends more time now on her tummy, even sleeping occasionally in that position. Here she is playing with a toy she got from her Uncle Jim. She says, "Thank you!"

Here are her six month Valentine portraits. What a cutie and a ham!

The pups are always watching. Wait until she starts crawling! Dodger likes to nuzzle her while she is in the saucer until she jumps and makes a huge racket. Then he jumps back. She tries to touch them and ends up swinging at them. They sense that she is special and if you ever hold her around them, you will be inspected and they always let Susie or me know if someone new is holding her.

At "work" in her saucer. She loves to spend time grabbing and moving the many items around her.

Happy Holidays!!! Here she is at four months and her personality has really started to show. I love making her smile and laugh. She is such a good baby, always happy in the morning and sleeps throughout the night. Susie and I are so fortunate to have such a good girl!

This was my favorite picture of her at three months old. I took it with my cell phone.

A happy girl at three months!!!

She came to us on Wednesday August 16th, 2006. My wife and I had tried numerous times to have our own baby, and had experienced numerous disappointments. It was after a Resolve conference ( www.resolve.org) that we met the incredible ladies from A is for Adoption (www.ais4adoption.com). We consulted with them, and signed on in May of 2006. It was mid June when we got a call from the agency that a birthmother had picked us out of a group of portfolios! We met the birthmother on June 29th, and decided to move forward. It was at that point that I truly understood what love is. This woman loved her child enough to give her to us. THAT is the ultimate love, and I am forever thankful that she chose us, and I will never forget her for that. Our little girl was due in late August. Just two months from meeting the birthmother, and our baby will be home! Most prospective parents have nine months to prepare for their child, we had less than two!

She weighed in at seven pounds and three ounces. She was eighteen inches long. We were in the room for her arrival, and we got to touch her and clean her. It was the greatest day of my life. At first the birthmother did not want to see her. I made eye contact with her and through my tears I mouthed, "Thank you." She replied, "You're welcome." Eventually she was able to hold her and we took pictures of her with little Alex.

Two days later our baby came home with us. I held her in my arms, looking at this little being, and I could not imagine loving someone any more than I love her. I did not care about her genetics, or if my "seed" had been extended. She is our baby, and whether she came from our sperm and egg or not, makes no difference.

I say this to encourage those that are dealing with difficulties with having children to seek some advice about adoption. We had talked about it in the past, but it didn't seem like a plausible option until we looked into it more thoroughly. Even if it is not the answer, looking into it will inform you, I encourage those to check it out.

Anyway, this blog will be all about Alexandra's life. There will be pictures and comments. I hope you all enjoy it!

Dad

Her first minutes of life, with Mom...

...and with Dad.

Now, we have two pups, Pembroke Welsh Corgis named Dodger (on the left) and Gagne' (the other one). They have been our "babies" and we have been fortunate to have two very sweet pets. Now that Alex has arrived, Dodger sits by her door and gently approaches her when we are holding her. He tries to lick her hands, but we tell him no, and he obeys us. Gagne' also is curious, but he is obsessed with Dodger, who is obsessed with the frisbee pictured on the floor. Look for more photos with pups and Alex in the future!

Day two and you can see my hand to scale with my "little triangle with a head." She was so tiny, it is unbeleievable how she has grown.

Her first car seat ride for the journey home.

Alex with Uncle Bob. He came out from Arizona to welcome her arrival.